The invention is directed to a device for use by a physician in examining the throat of an alert patient without causing gagging and the discomfort and unpleasantness commonly associated therewith.
In the usual throat examination, the patient is told to open his mouth and stick out his tongue while saying AAAAH in order for a light from an observation instrument outside of the patient's mouth to reach the back of the throat, i.e., the tonsils. As may be appreciated, the tongue of a patient is a major obstruction to inspection or examination of this area of the throat, it is often necessary to use a tongue depressor or the like in order to provide a clear line of sight to this area. Such practice can cause gagging resulting in discomfort to an alert patient and difficulty for the examining physician. Prior to the present invention and especially when examining the throats of pediatric patients, it was often necessary to cause gagging in order to achieve the clear line of sight.
The above cross-referenced patents, although not particularly adapted to the same type of examination as the instant invention, are illustrative of devices directed to illumination and visual examination of the larynx. The larynx is much deeper than that area of the throat which the present invention is used to examine, with such prior art devices usually inserted so deeply in the throat as to extend into the larynx. Accordingly, use of laryngoscopes requires that the patient be sedated or at least semi-comatose. Still further, the prior art devices noted above are not adaptable to use in the manner of the instant invention due to their structural configurations. Although the devices of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,320,745 and 4,306,547, when inverted from their normal use positions, might appear usable in the manner of the instant invention, the light emitting and image receiving end of the device within the patient's mouth would point to the roof of the mouth without illuminating or providing observation of the particular areas with which the instant invention deals.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a throat examination device by which particular portions of the throat of an alert patient may be examined without the need for gagging the patient.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a throat examination device by which the area of the throat to be examined is illuminated and the illuminated image thereof is viewable outside the patient's mouth by the examining physician.
It is still another object of the invention to locate any electrically conductive parts of the apparatus outside of the mouth of the patient where they will not be susceptible to corrosion and malfunction from contact with the patient's saliva or the like.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a means for protecting the teeth and tissues of the mouth by cushioning a portion of the device which is inserted into the mouth of the patient.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide discardable sanitary covers for that portion of the device which is inserted into the mouth of the patient.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device is generally goosenecked in configuration so that a portion thereof is insertable within the open mouth of the patient while requiring little or no extension of the tongue. This configuration provides that a "patient's end" of the device is oriented adjacent the roof of the mouth and directs light to the area of the glottis and tonsils and receives the corresponding image therefrom. A "physician's end" of the device extends outside of the mouth and is provided with a lens system, a light bulb, and a battery handle by which the bulb is powered and the device is manipulated. Fiberoptic bundles respectively conduct light to the patient's end from the bulb and conduct images of the examined area from the patient's end to the focusing lens. At least a portion of the device is provided with a cushioning material in order that the teeth and tissues of the mouth are not subjected to the injury that can occur during engagement thereof with a solid, foreign object. In order to provide good hygiene, a plurality of nestable sterile covers are provided over the portion of the device which is inserted into a patient's mouth.